OPINION: Obama accused of not being American Enough. Why all this nonsense?

When I celebrated Obama’s Nov 4th victory, my joy came not only from the historic nature of his win but from the pride that I too could claim him as #African in my own way. Little did I realize that what I saw as a small detail would spiral into an undying circus.

I hadn’t given much thought to the nonsense that had surfaced before the elections about his #citizenship because it seemed quite absurd then and still does now. I am quick to say let’s move on and never speak again of this lawsuit dismissed by the Supreme Court Monday questioning #Barack Obama‘s citizenship. But it looks like this issue will not die an easy death; especially on the web.

The suit, filed by #Leo Donofrio, “reasoned” that since Obama had dual nationality at birth – his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject – he cannot possibly be a “natural born citizen,” one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.

This mess put me to task immediately as I quickly researched “natural born citizens” and eligibility requirements for the US presidency. I found the United States Constitution requires that Presidents (and Vice Presidents) of the United States be natural born citizens of the United States although the phrase “natural born Citizen” is not defined anywhere in the Constitution, as is true with most Constitutional terms.

While the Obama team has largely dismissed questions about his citizenship, the persistence of the questions drove the campaign in June to make public his birth certificate. It shows, among other things, that he was born in a Honolulu hospital at 7:42 p.m. on Aug. 4, 1961.

Anyone born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen, regardless of his or her parents’ immigration status. Hawaii has been a state since 1959.

Despite all the information the Obama camp has made available to quel this issue, we will all have to deal with it one more time. A Pennsylvania man is pursuing a court challenge to Obama’s presidency claiming the president-elect was born in Kenya and not Hawaii, contrary to what President Obama and Hawaii officials confirmed.

I am hoping that will be the last time-wasting challenge we have to stand. So let the stupid tricks end and let Obama have his chance to govern already.